This is a 2004 reinterpolation of the classic Nas song “The Message.” Al and I had just decided to record what we thought would be a short EP, which would later become the full-length LP Tech Files.

Tech Files was the first project that Al and I ever worked on together, and it was also the first full-fledged project that I was involved in after my fiance Misty‘s death. There is a lot of emotion and passion on that project. The Message didn’t make the final cut, as it was more of a tribute to Nas and us getting familiar with each other as emcees. I always found it cool that the Trackmasters sampled Sting‘s ‘Shape of My Heart‘ for this joint, as that is a pretty dope song in its own right. I found the song on a cassette tape years prior to this recording. I dug the tape out of my box, looped up the sample and added drums. I also ran a low pass filter on the sample to bring out the original bassline used by the TM. (yeah, some of yall didn’t know that your boy Dan Danger makes beats from time-to-time)

I was going through songs this morning to see what song would be the first one that I’d put up, and I ended up playing this joint like 5 times. Tell me what you think of it.